May 1, 2018

Trump Reacts to Leaked Mueller Questions, Somehow Concludes 'No Questions on Collusion'

by Aidan McLaughlin | 7:11 am, May 1st, 2018

President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to react to the New York Times report on questions special counsel Robert Mueller gave to the president’s legal team he would like to ask Trump.

The list of questions, which probe everything from the potential obstruction of justice to his campaign’s ties to Russia, come from notes by Trump’s legal team — though the Times noted it was provided to the paper “by a person outside Mr. Trump’s legal team.” Nevertheless, Trump decried the leak as “so disgraceful.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991267863674675200

He also declared “No questions on Collusion,” a declaration that seems to ignore a number of questions included in Mueller’s sprawling list, including:

-snip-

UPDATE 7:45 a.m.: Trump adds:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991279620044591105

full article
https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-reacts-to-leaked-mueller-questions-somehow-concludes-no-questions-on-collusion/

May 1, 2018

Team Trump Publicly Pissed at Jon Tester, Privately at Johnny Isakson Over Jackson's Nomination...

Team Trump Publicly Pissed at Jon Tester, Privately at Johnny Isakson Over Ronny Jackson’s Nomination Disaster

The VA committee’s top Democrat and Republican worked closely together to force the president’s pick to withdraw, the White House believes.

LACHLAN MARKAY
ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
SAM STEIN

05.01.18 5:02 AM ET
For days now, President Donald Trump has been angrily tweeting at Sen. Jon Tester (MT), the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, for spreading wild allegations that fueled the implosion of the Veterans Affairs nomination of Ronny Jackson. But privately, relations are nearly as strained between the White House and the committee’s top Republican over what West Wing officials have described as the “smearing” of the White House physician.

According to four sources familiar with the situation, both inside and outside of the West Wing, the Trump White House has grown increasingly angry with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, for his apparent disinclination to warn administration officials in advance of Tester’s media blitz.

Numerous congressional and Veterans Affairs sources told The Daily Beast that Tester was closely in touch with his Republican colleague throughout the last two weeks, when committee members first heard allegations against Jackson and began to investigate them. There was even an implicit understanding that Tester would be the one to address those allegations with the press as Isakson and other Republicans, while wary of getting into an intra-party feud, were nonetheless eager to send a critical message to the White House about its porous vetting operation.

“They were trying to train Trump but they didn’t have the balls to stand up to him,” said one top-ranking Democrat familiar with the plan.

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/team-trump-publicly-pissed-at-jon-tester-privately-at-johnny-isakson-over-ronny-jacksons-nomination-disaster?ref=home

May 1, 2018

DOJ charges 11 possible caravan members with illegally entering the US

Source: CNN




By Laura Jarrett and Darran Simon, CNN

Updated 12:17 AM ET, Tue May 1, 2018

(CNN)The Department of Justice on Monday filed complaints against 11 individuals believed to be members of the Central American migrant caravan, accusing them of illegally entering the United States.

After a month-long journey by bus, train and on foot, about 100 migrants arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry on the US-Mexico border on Sunday evening, preparing to claim asylum. Twenty to 30 migrants spent Sunday night in front of the turnstiles leading to the US side of the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. An organizer of the caravan said they would remain at the immigration processing center until "every last one is admitted into the United States."

Eight migrants from the caravan were being processed by US officials, the group Pueblo Sin Fronteras and two observers said Monday night.

Two Salvadorans, six Hondurans, two Guatemalans and a Mexican national face charges, according to federal complaints. They are currently in custody.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/30/us/doj-charges-migrant-caravans-members/index.html

May 1, 2018

Dad of Parkland shooting victim files wrongful death lawsuit against school resource officer

Source: Sun-Sentinel



By Wells Dusenbury
Sun Sentinel

Andrew Pollack, the father of one of the 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting victims, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against former Broward Sheriff Deputy Scot Peterson, gunman Nikolas Cruz and several others.

Peterson, who was the Parkland school’s resource officer at the time of the Feb.14 attack, has come under immense public criticism for failing to enter the building while the shooting was taking place.

Pollack’s suit, filed in Broward Circuit Court on Monday, also listed as defendants the estate of Lynda Cruz, James Snead, Kimberly Snead, Henderson Behavioral Health, Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health INC, and South County Mental Health Center, INC.

Scot Peterson: School deputy goes from commended to vilified after Stoneman Douglas shooting
The wrongful death lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and a trial by jury.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-andrew-pollack-scot-peterson-lawsuit-20180430-story.html

May 1, 2018

Kim Jong Un agrees to meet Donald Trump at DMZ, source says

Source: CNN



By Will Ripley, Ralph Ellis and Ben Westcott, CNN

Updated 0724 GMT (1524 HKT) May 1, 2018

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)South Korean President Moon Jae-in has convinced North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to hold his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, a source tells CNN.

Moon and Kim met at the same location in Panmunjom last Friday, a historically significant event that was televised worldwide and led to an agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and formally end the Korean War.

There is a "strong possibility" the summit will be held at the site, with some events possibly scheduled on the northern side of the military demarcation line separating the two countries, according to an official with deep knowledge of North Korea's thinking on the matter.

The venue makes the most sense logistically for Kim, the source said, because media facilities and equipment are already in place, which could allow the summit to take place "in late May."

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/30/asia/trump-kim-summit-dmz/index.html

May 1, 2018

Iran calls Netanyahu 'infamous liar' over nuclear allegations

Source: Agence France-Presse




1 MAY 2018

Iran on Tuesday branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an "infamous liar" over his allegations of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi called the accusations that Tehran lied about its nuclear ambitions "worn-out, useless and shameful". Netanyahu's comments came from a "broke and infamous liar who has had nothing to offer except lies and deceits," Ghasemi said in a statement.

"Netanyahu and the notorious, child-killing Zionist regime must have reached the basic understanding that the people of the world have enough awareness and cognisance," he added.

Netanyahu said in an elaborate televised presentation on Monday that he had new "proof" of an Iranian nuclear weapons plan that could be activated at any time.

Read more: https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/iran-calls-netanyahu-infamous-liar-over-nuclear-allegations-doc-14g5xo6